DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES 

CIO ACTIONS 

White House Initiatives on 

Tribal Colleges and Universities 

Executive Order 13270 

Fiscal Year 2009-2011 

AGENCY NAME: CDC 

CONTACT NAME: Pelagie (Mike) Snesrud 

TITLE: Public Health Analyst 

ADDRESS: 1600 Clifton Road, N.E., MS E-67, Atlanta, GA 30333 

TELEPHONE NUMBER: 404-498-2320 

FAX NUMBER: 404-498-2355 

E-MAIL ADDRESS: PSnesrud@cdc.gov 
 

CDC/ATSDR Tribal Colleges and Universities (TCUs) 

Plan for the White House 

Executive Orders on Minority Initiatives Fiscal Years 2006-2008 

Executive Summary 

This report presents the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention/Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry’s (CDC*) FY 2009 - 2011 Annual Plan for the White 

House Executive Orders on Minority Initiatives on Tribal Colleges and Universities 

(TCUs). The CDC FY 2009-2011 Annual Plan for the TCU Initiative is based on the 

overarching goals identified by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). 

CDC’s mission contributes to accomplishing all four of the overarching goals provided by 

HHS. Measurable objectives to accomplish the goals were developed in collaboration with 

the Office of the Director/Office of the Chief of Public Health Practice/Office of Minority 

Health and Health Disparities (OMHD), 2 National Centers and the Agency for Toxic 

Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR). 

The OD/OMHD, the National Center for Chronic Disease Prevention and Health 

Promotion (NCCDPHP), the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH), and the 

Agency for Toxic Substances and Disease Registry (ATSDR) proposed activities and a 

funding amount of $506,900 to accomplish these measurable objectives. Activities 

proposed for FYs 2009-2011 by CIOs are as follows. 

NCCDPHP will continue to support nine tribal colleges and universities to strengthen their 

capacity to maintain present activities. In April, 2008, CDC Native Diabetes Wellness 

Program (NDWP) released a new funding opportunity announcement entitled, “Using 

Traditional Foods and Sustainable Ecological Approaches for Health Promotion and 

Diabetes Prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native (AI/AN) Communities.” Sixty 

applications were received. All tribal organizations were eligible and encouraged to apply. 

NDWP made 11 awards to tribes and tribal organizations through a five-year cooperative 

agreement (2009-2013), including an award to Salish Kootenai Community College. The 

2009 awards to each of the 11 grantees was $91,100. CDC hopes to increase this award to 

$100,000 per grantee in years 2010 – 2012. 

The Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools (DETS), led by the National Institutes of Health, 

in collaboration with CDC and Indian Health Service debuted “Health is Life in Balance” 

Kindergarten (K) through 12th grade curriculum on November 12, 2008 at the Smithsonian 

National Museum of the American Indian (NMAI). The “Health is Life in Balance” DETS 

curriculum, developed by 8 TCUS, will be used to support the integration of AI/AN culture 

and community knowledge with diabetes-related science. The “Eagle Books,” produced 

by CDC, are featured in the K-4 DETS curriculum. Funding for the eight TCUs will 

continue through FY 2009. In FY 2009, NCCDPHP estimates $406,900 will be 

distributed to TCUs. In FY 2010-2011, this amount will be decrease to $91,900. 

Note: References to CDC refer also to ATSDR throughout this plan. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 1 
NCEH plans to continue funding and supporting its highly successful cooperative 

agreement with the Association of Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP). 

AEHAP works to increase diversity in the workforce by increasing diversity in 

environmental health degree programs through minority student recruitment grants, 

minority serving institution conference, and mentoring minority serving institutions 

seeking accreditation. 

NCEH/EEHS funded and continues to provide technical support to AEHAP for follow-up 

to “Building the Diverse Environmental Health Workforce: A Workshop for Minority 

Serving Institutions”. This second national conference, held April 16–18, 2008, brought 

together 35 participants, including faculty and administrators from 13 MSIs, government 

agency representatives, students, and environmental health organizations. 

The workshop and follow-up activities are helping Minority Serving Institutions (MSIs) 

that have environmental health-related curricula acquire the information necessary to meet 

National Environmental Health Science and Protection Accreditation Council accreditation 

guidelines. Workshop participants were matched with an accreditation mentor and the 

majority are currently working toward accreditation. Programs at five MSIs are well 

positioned for accreditation in 2009 and 2010. 

In FY 2009, NCEH plans to support environmental public health practice by continuing to 

fund and support the cooperative agreement with the AEHAP. AEHAP will continue 

working with Haskell Indian Nations University and providing mentoring support in 

Haskell’s efforts toward creating an environmental health degree program. In FY 2010, 

NCEH plans to build on its success working with AEHAP and will continue partnering to 

enhance environmental health education to assure the optimal health of people and the 

environment. In FY 2011, NCEH plans to build on its work with AEHAP in FY 2009 and 

2010. 

During FY 2009, ATSDR continues to fund Turtle Mountain Community College (TMCC) 

and Dine for the fifth and final year of cooperative agreement funding. ATSDR has 

allocated this funding for the development and enhancement of environmental/public 

health programs with TMCC in Belcourt, North Dakota, and Diné College in Shiprock, 

New Mexico. These cooperative agreement support HHS Goal One and Two. ATSDR 

will continue to support the tribal colleges to develop curriculum to address human health 

issues related to exposure to hazardous substances in the environment that may adversely 

impact the public health of American Indians. TMCC and Dine are also conducting 

various activities under these cooperative agreements focused on increasing recruitment 

and retention and distance learning. 

ATSDR’s continued partnership with these two schools has resulted in significant progress 

in the development of the “health” in Environmental Health rather than an emphasis on 

environmental science. Dine offered a Principles of Environmental Public Health course 

through interactive TV for the first time this year. A student at Turtle Mountain conducted 

a research project involving the health effects of Radon. The projects were highly 

successful are generating a great-deal of interest in Environmental Health. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 2 
Both TCU’s are developing EPH courses that can be shared between them and other Tribal 

Colleges and Universities Using the technology and resources to “share” courses will help 

them overcome several barriers that have been present throughout the cooperative 

agreement. Due to insufficient funding to hire professors with an environmental health 

background, Turtle Mountain has been exploring a visiting professor program to augment 

their coursework, and Dine College is providing stipends or internships for working 

students, who comprise the majority of the student enrollment. 

Projected activities for the ATSDR for FY 2010 and FY 2011 will include seeking funding 

resources to increase and stabilize the program for Tribal Colleges and Universities. 

ATSDR Office of Tribal Affairs will work to solicit funding that will rejuvenate the TCU 

program and increase the amount of funding as well as increase the number of TCU 

participants. 

ATSDR recognizes the value and necessity of supporting EO 13270 and will work 

aggressively to ensure that program support is available to meet the needs of aspiring 

AI/AN professionals in the environmental/public health fields. ATSDR will not only seek 

funding, but will also collaborate with ATSDR and NCEH divisions for internship 

placements and research opportunities. Other possibilities could include collaborations 

with TCUs for temporary detail opportunities and/or details to tribal communities for 

hands-on learning and experience. 

CDC strives to manage its fiscal and personnel resources in a manner that maximizes 

impact on the health and safety of American Indian/Alaska Native (AI/AN) people, 

accurately monitor CDC resources allocated to benefit AI/AN communities, and make this 

information readily available to tribal leaders. CDC is using a portfolio management 

approach to its resources devoted to AI/AN health issues. This approach improves how 

CDC tracks and displays its AI/AN resource commitments and enables CDC to more 

closely monitor funds distributed to state health departments via CDC grants and 

cooperative agreements to help ensure that AI/AN communities receive appropriate benefit 

from these funds. 

In FY 2008, total funds allocated through competitively awarded grants and cooperative 

agreements to tribal partners (tribal governments, tribal health boards, tribal epidemiology 

centers, tribal health organizations, Alaska Native health corporations, urban Indian health 

centers, and tribal colleges) approached $23.0 million ($22,768,411). Compared to FY 

2007, total funding in this category increased by about $820,237 or 3.7 percent. In addition 

to grants and cooperative agreements awarded to tribal partners, CDC also allocated more 

than $10.1 million through grants/cooperative agreements awarded to state health 

departments and academic institutions for programs focusing on AI/AN public health 

issues. The remainder of CDC’s AI/AN portfolio falls into three categories: (1) intramural 

resources (about $6.8 million), (2) federal intra-agency agreements (about $2.0 million), 

and (3) indirect allocations (about $65.6 million). The indirect category primarily 

represents resources devoted to immunizing AI/AN children through the Vaccines for 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 3 
Children (VFC) program. CDC estimates its total FY 2008 resource allocation for AI/AN 

programs to be approximately $107 million. 

The CDC Office of Minority Health and Health Disparities (OMHD) cooperative 

agreement with National Indian Health Board (NIHB) continues to demonstrate progress 

towards achieving the long-term goals of supporting collaboration between the CDC and 

tribes nation wide, strengthening public health connectivity, identifying and developing 

culturally appropriate approaches to reduce disease burden, and strengthening AI/AN 

public health systems capacity. 

OMHD through the cooperative agreement with NIHB, will support six AI/AN interns to 

participated in an 8 week Public Health Summer Internship Program through Morehouse 

School of Medicine and CDC. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 4 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Goal, Objectives, and Activities in Support of 

the White House Executive Orders on Minority Initiatives 

Goal #1	 Increase access to and the participation of minority-serving institutions of 

higher education and/or minority organizations in HHS programs such as 

biomedical research and services. 

 ATSDR

 Activities:
 

Where possible, ATSDR will assist with curriculum development to support 

the public health programs of the TMCC and Dine. 

 ATSDR will continue to consistently search for additional funding opportunities 

 to continue supporting this valuable TCU program. 

 Performance Measures: 

Increase the number of students to the public health programs at these two 

colleges through recruitment and retention activities. 

Increase the number of graduate from the two colleges. 

Goal #2	 Strengthen the capacity TCUs and minority institutions of higher education 

and/or minority organizations that address racial/ethnic minority 

populations to provide high quality education and other services. 

NCCDPHP 

Objective: 

Increase the number of TCUs that receive funding and/or support to address 

health disparities among AI/AN populations by 15%. 

Activities:
 

Disseminate and utilize Diabetes Wellness Talking Circles” methods and 

resources for communities interested in providing this intervention. 

Fund and support infrastructure development to facilitate instruction and research 

at TCUs. Support TCU faculty development and research training initiative 

focusing on health disparities. 

Performance Measures: 

Support use of “Diabetes Wellness Talking Circles” to reach participants and 

representatives of Special Diabetes Program for Indian Grantees. Increase the 

number of training sessions and the number participants who conduct talking 

circles in their own communities, including Eagle Books Community Outreach 

talking circles. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 5 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Develop and implement a school-based diabetes curriculum that supports the 

integration of AI/AN culture and community knowledge with diabetes-related 

science for DETS program led by the National Institute of Diabetes, Digestive 

and Kidney Disorders (NIDDK), NIH through funding for eight TCUs through 

FY 2009. 

Map techniques to identify and display traditional foods resource locations is 

planned as part of the activities of the recently funded 11 tribal grantees of the 

NDWP “Using Traditional Foods and Sustainable Ecological Approaches for 

Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention in AI/AN Communities.” 

Support the nine funded TCU programs with an emphasis on building sustainable 

infrastructure and capacity to maintain present activities. 

NCEH 

Objective: 

 Support environmental public health practice. 

Activities:
 

Continue to fund and support the cooperative agreement with the Association of 

Environmental Health Academic Programs (AEHAP) to: 

•	 identify accredited environmental health degree programs located near TCUs 

for potential partnerships in recruiting AI/AN students 

•	 promote and build relationships between 2-year TCUs and 4-year 

environmental health degree programs (e.g., continue work with Turtle 

Mountain Community College and Dickinson State University) to create 

pathways for AI/AN students to enter accredited 4-year environmental health 

degree programs 

•	 continue outreach to TCUs with regard to accreditation. 

AEHAP will continue working with Haskell Indian Nations University and 

providing mentoring support in Haskell’s efforts toward creating an 

environmental health degree program.

 Performance Measures: 

Increase the number of minority students graduating from accredited 

undergraduate and graduate environmental health academic programs. 

Improve state and local environmental health infrastructure by strengthening and 

diversifying accredited undergraduate and graduate environmental health 

academic programs. 

 ATSDR:

 Activities:
 

ATSDR will continue to communicate regularly by phone and in person with 

TMCC and Dine College to ensure that the performance measures are being met. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 6 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ATSDR will continue to assist with curriculum development to support the public 

health programs of the TMCC and Dine. ATSDR will continue to search for 

additional funding opportunities to continue offering this valuable TCU program. 

Performance Measures: 

Increase the number of distance learning activities at TMCC 

Utilize the knowledge and expertise of visiting professors at TMCC 

Expand the curriculum at Dine College to ensure the students are receiving an 

adequate offering of courses in public health 

Goal #3	 Increase access to and the participation of racial and ethnic minority 

populations in HHS programs such as biomedical research and services 

(education-related activities and HHS workforce); and/or 

OMHD: Objective – Increase the number of AI/AN students participating in CDC 

sponsored training programs.
 

Activities: Inform and educate CDC Division Directors and Senior Staff 

regarding the importance of supporting AI/AN undergraduate and graduate 

students and TCU activities. 

Monitor and track participation of Native students in any of CDC training 

programs. 

Use OMHD formal relationship with the CDC Tribal Consultation Advisory 

Committee to solicit and disseminate information about CDC training programs. 

Identify 6 CDC programs willing to mentor and support six AI/AN summer 

interns. 

Performance Measure: 

Increase AI/AN participation in careers that affect the health, well-being, and 

quality of life for AI/ANs by supporting a minimum of six AI/AN summer interns 

each year from FY 2009 – 2011. 

Goal #4	 Promote data collection of racial and ethnic minority 

populations, e.g., through minority-serving institutions of higher 

education and minority organizations. 

NCCDPHP 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 7 
 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Objective: Improve the quality of data collected and reported on AI/AN 

 populations involved in research in the PRC program. 

Activities:
 

Develop the PRC information system to collect data on AI/AN populations 

collaborating on research activities within the PRC program. 

 Collect health status information on REACH US AI/AN populations where 

local REACH US programs focus on breast and cervical cancer prevention, 

cardiovascular health, and diabetes. 

Performance Measures: Evidence of improved data collection to enhance 

reporting of PRC program results specific to AI/AN populations. 

Improvement in the quality of data regarding the health status of AI/AN 

 populations in REACH 2010 communities. 

CDC/ATSDR FY 2009-2011 TCU Annual Plan 8 
TABLE C-1 SUMMARY OF PLANNED AWARDS BY CATEGORY 

Fiscal Year 2009-2011 

Agency Name: CDC/ATSDR 

Initiative: TCU 

Category: Training 

Name of 

Awardee 

*Funding 

Type 

Summary of Activities *Amount 

of Award 

Min

Popula

Diné College 3 Develop or enhance environmental/public 

health programs, and undertake curriculum building activities with TCUs. In addition, this program is designed to undertake capacity building activities that will assist TCU programs, and graduates, in addressing human health issues related to exposure to hazardous substances that may adversely impact the public health of the American Indians. 

$ 50,000 Ame

Indians

Nat

Turtle Mountain 3 Develop or enhance environmental/public 

health programs, and undertake curriculum building activities with TCUs. In addition, this program is designed to undertake capacity building activities that will assist TCU programs and graduates, in addressing human health issues related to exposure to hazardous substances that may adversely impact the public health of the American Indians. 

$ 50,000 Ame

Indians

Nat

Totals: $100,000 

*Funding Type - Insert the appropriate number(s) that correspond to the following funding mechanisms: 1 = Contract, 2 = GraAgreement, 4 = Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement/or Inter Agency Agreement 
TABLE C-1 SUMMARY OF PLANNED AWARDS BY CATEGORY 

Fiscal Year 2009-2011 

Agency Name: CDC/ATSDR 

Initiative: TCU 

Category: Training 

Name of *Funding Summary of Activities *Amount Min

Awardee Type of Award Popula

National Institutes 4 Eight TCUs developed and are implementing $315,000 AI/AN 

for Health (NIDDK) 

the “Health is Life in Balance” Diabetes Education in Tribal Schools (DETS), Kindergarten through 12th grade curriculum, 

(completing in 

2009 – CDC 

provided this 

led by NIDDK and supported by CDC and I.H.S. This curriculum supports the integration of AIAN culture and community knowledge with diabetes-related science. TCU awardees are Candeska Cikana Community College, Ft. Peck Community College, Haskell Indian National University, Keweeneaw Bay Ojibwa Community College, Leech Lake Community College, Northwest Indian College, Southwestern Indian Polytechnic Institute, Stone Child College. 

funding every year 

since 2003) 

Total: $315,000 

*Funding Type - Insert the appropriate number(s) that correspond to the following funding mechanisms: 1 = Contract, 2 = GraAgreement, 4 = Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement/or Inter Agency Agreement 
TABLE C-1 SUMMARY OF PLANNED AWARDS BY CATEGORY 

Fiscal Year 2009-2011 

Agency Name: CDC/ATSDR 

Initiative: TCU 

Category: Major Agency Program 

Name of 

Awardee 

*Funding 

Type 

Summary of Activities *Amount 

of Award 

Min

Popula

Salish Kootenai Community College, Montana 

3 Using Traditional Foods and Sustainable 

Ecological Approaches for Health Promotion and Diabetes Prevention in American Indian and Alaska Native Communities. 

$91,900 

(2009-2013) 

AI/AN 

Total: $91,900 

*Funding Type - Insert the appropriate number(s) that correspond to the following funding mechanisms: 1 = Contract, 2 = GraAgreement, 4 = Memorandum of Understanding/Agreement/or Inter Agency Agreement